Svadhyaya - Self Study

The month of May has arrived, and what a perfect time to do some spring cleaning in our inner essence with the practice of Svadhyaya.  Each of the Yamas and Niyamas has a certain degree of self reflection, but with Svadhyaya we are immersing our awareness within ourselves.  

Just as you may take time in the spring to purge a closet or your whole house, assessing what it is that continues to serve you and what is it that you are ready to let go of, Svadhyaya gives you this time to do it with thoughts, habits, emotional patterning, etc.  It takes a certain level of mindfulness, awareness, honesty and intention.  You observe some of your patterns and decide if you want to continue to “wear” them.  Do they still fit you now?  Are they comfortable or do they bring you joy?  Then shed those that you feel ready to release.

Another way to approach this practice is to observe your process, your choices and your habits and ask yourself these two questions from HeartMath:

            Is it efficient?

            Is it effective?

For example you start to feel frustrated or angry about a situation.  Take a moment to notice how that feels and ask yourself, “Is it efficient? Is it effective?”  This is the point of potential transition.  You can then choose what would be a more efficient or effective feeling, reaction, thought, etc.

While we are speaking of the heart, remember that the “rabbit hole” of a personal self-study practice can have some very powerful and negative side effects.  It is all too easy to slip into personal attacks, judging yourself and even self-hatred.  It is critical for your self-growth to enter this practice equally committed to self-love. Be your own cheerleader.  Be self-forgiving. Hold compassion for those parts of you that struggle along this path.  All that heart infusion will help you make changes and new choices. 

The other nemesis of a personal self-growth practice can be the Ego.  Our ego often has a self-protecting mechanism, and loves to keep things “as is” while justifying the righteousness of it all.  It tells us things like:

            You’ve always been like this.

            Everyone else does it.

            It is just who I am.

Notice it doesn’t reflect on the joy, wellbeing, effectiveness of your being that way., or the lack of those things.  It just tells you to HOLD ON, from a deep sense of attachment.  Keep one eye out for how the Ego will throw roadblocks along your highway of Svadhyaya and take some detours from it.

As always, we look forward to sharing the practice of Svadhyaya with you this month.